1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed to electronic mail (e-mail) messages. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a method of rescinding previously transmitted e-mail messages.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic mail or e-mail is the transmission of messages over communications networks. The messages can be notes entered using a keyboard or electronic files stored on disks. Most e-mail systems include a rudimentary text editor for composing messages, but many allow a user to edit messages using any editor. After composing a message, the message is sent to a recipient by specifying the recipient's e-mail address in an address box. The message can also be sent or multicasted to several recipients at once if several recipients' e-mail addresses are specified in the box.
Sometimes, a user may realize that a recipient should not have been sent a message or that a message has some typographical and/or grammatical errors etc. that should be corrected before it is read by recipients. In those cases, the user may want to preclude the recipient from retrieving the e-mail message or correct the errors in the message before it is read by the recipients. Unfortunately, once an e-mail message has been transmitted it may not be withdrawn or modified.
Thus, a need exists for an apparatus, system and method of precluding a recipient from retrieving a message or allowing a message to be corrected after it has been transmitted.